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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 125 of 1027

Mandala 1: HYMN CXXV. Svanaya.

1.COMING at early morn he gives his treasure; the prudent one receives and entertains him. Thereby increasing still his life and offspring, he comes with brave sons to abundant riches.

2.Rich shall he be in gold and kine and horses. Indra bestows on him great vital power, Who stays thee, as thou comest, with his treasure, like game caught in the net, O early comer.

3.Longing, I came this morning to the pious, the son of sacrifice, with car wealth-laden. Give him to drink juice of the stalk that gladdens; prosper with pleasant hymns the Lord of Heroes.

4.Health-bringing streams, as milch-cows, flow to profit him who hath worshipped, him who now will worship. To him who freely gives and fills on all sides full streams of fatness flow and make him famous.

5.On the high ridge of heaven he stands exalted, yea, to the Gods he goes, the liberal giver. The streams, the waters flow for him with fatness: to him this guerdon ever yields abundance.

6.For those who give rich meeds are all these splendours, for those who give rich meeds suns shine in heaven. The givers of rich meeds are made immortal; the givers of rich fees prolong their lifetime.

7.Let not the liberal sink to sin and sorrow, never decay the pious chiefs who worship! Let every man besides be their protection, and let affliction fall upon the niggard.

Asked of Guide

Why does this hymn keep promising riches and long life to the generous giver?

The hymn describes a moral economy: generosity (giving rich meeds) summons concrete returns — “streams…flow for him with fatness,” gold, kine, horses and offspring — because the ritual and social order make the giver a channel for divine favor. The Rishi presents giving as a technique that secures “vital power” and standing among the Gods, so wealth and longevity are presented as the visible fruits of correct worship and hospitality.

This chapter sits beside later texts like the Upanishads that reframe ritual reward into spiritual knowledge, but here the promise is practical and communal: prosperity follows liberal action and sustains the pious chiefs who uphold the sacrificial world. The hymn enjoins steady generosity to keep social and cosmic balance, warning that niggardliness brings affliction.

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